Mass Effect: Shadow
by TheOneRider
Summary: A story/collection of short stories about my original character.


It's a mess down there. Husks swarming, people dead everywhere. Most of the buildings are in ruins, and there isn't much chance to pull a win out of this bloodbath. Most of the Alliance survivors are going to pieces at this point. Not me, though.

I've seen worse. Hell, I've done worse.

I don't really know why humanity decided to settle on Anhur, much less why it was so important to keep during that war with the Batarians. All I do know is that the Alliance said they needed me here during the Rebellions to stop a few key players, and now they say they need me here again because I'm "familiar with the area".

Frankly, I don't see how any one human, even an Omega-six, is going to make a difference against these Reapers. It's not like I can pick out the local leader and plant a armor-piercing round between his eyes. With my section, deniability is the name of the game; but how is deniability supposed to matter when the enemy you're facing is a bazillion-ton warship that can think for itself?

I look down my scope again. One of those conglomerated monstrosities is herding a line of prisoners toward a transport. That's what I'm out to stop today. I could bring down the bastard easily enough, but there's a few dozen others like it beside the transport. They'd kill at least a third of the prisoners before anyone realized they had a chance to run.

Fortunately, I'm not alone. The local Batarians have a solid resistance organized. They're going to help me get these people out of here, even though most of the people we're grabbing today are human. Funny how enemies always become friends as soon as there's a bigger enemy to worry about. I hope it'll last, if we can manage to survive all this. I'd figured that after the Bahak debacle, the Batarians would never lift a finger if it helped a human.

I send a click over my com transmitter. That'll tell Va'kesh that I'm in position. Now I just wait for him to get his people placed to hit the transport and its defenses. Even though that's only gonna take thirty seconds or so, I can't help but think about that last update I got from Alliance Command.

I can't even remember the last time that my communications came directly from Hackett. I guess the Old Man wanted to pass on hopeful news himself. God knows there's been little enough of that since these Reapers turned up. But if everyone in the Omega voco-code is being reclassified, and our role shut down. What with the greater collaboration between the Alliance and everyone else, they're concerned about an increased risk of connection between our operation and the System Alliance government.

That means I don't have to worry about hiding in the shadows to the degree that I used to. I can do what the government requires, and the government won't officially consider me a criminal. Better yet, Hackett said that, since I'm actually due for a proficiency review anyway, there's a chance that I'll be reclassified as N7.

That would be a hell of a thing.

Two clicks over the com. Va'kesh and his Batarians are ready. I look down my scope again. Adjust my aim to put the bull right between the escort Cannibal's eyes. I breath in, hold it, let it out, getting my heart rate slow and steady.

Va'kesh's militia open up. The Cannibal twitches its head toward the disturbance. I squeeze the trigger. Perfect shot from ear to ear. That monster isn't going to hurt anyone now.

Kurdig pops out of cover near the prisoners and shouts for them to run to him. I turn my attention to helping Va'kesh take down the transport and its guards. Sure, probably at least one of the prisoners has been indoctrinated, but we can sort that out once we get out of here. I manage a shot that should have killed the Cannibal it hit, but the thing gets back up and tries to find what hit it - we've seen them do that sometimes.

I activate my tactical cloak and change positions while the militia finishes off the monster. I'm only going to get a few more shots off before they work out that I'm up here, but that has its advantages too. So as soon as I find a good position, I knock the armor off of two Cannibals in quick succession, roll a few yards to the left, and plant a round in another's head. Its companions look in my general direction and start firing, so I cloak again and switch to my AR. It won't be hard to work my way down into a position I can hold for a good while. I might even get a chance to fire off the Basilisk I've been hauling all this time. I'll definitely have to get rid of the thing when I leave Anhur, but it'll come in handy if we have to put down one of the larger Reaper units fast - and it looks like that Harvester is pulling for target number one.

I shout over the com for Va'kesh to fall back. It takes him a second to decide that I'm right, but then he gets his militia moving. I've got to wait until they're at least two hundred meters from the Harvester, because there's no real cover for them if I'm gonna use the Basilisk. I've got a good, solid ton of stone that I can use to turn the blast wake, so I'll probably be fine at a hundred. I hope.

If not, I guess I won't have to worry about any inquests into why I'm using an illegal weapon on a human colony.

The second the last of the militia pass the two hundred mark, I lean over my cover with the Basilisk. It's a heavy son-of-a-gun and I'm glad I can put its weight on the boulder. I work the scope to aim at what I'm guessing is the Harvester's center of mass... Gonna have to move quick.

As soon as I press the trigger, I dive back behind the boulder. The afterimage of the round's wake is burned into my retinas - it may take a few hours to get rid of it. See, the Basilisk does something no other infantry weapon does: It actually accelerates its rounds to relativistic speeds. Very low end speeds as I understand it, and each round is only something like a few molecules, but that's still fast enough that pretty much anything becomes fissile material. It doesn't use a tracer effect, but the air literally burns behind the round's passage.

I exhale as I'm diving, because I don't want my lungs seared if I guessed the distances wrong. I'm almost blinded even with the polarization on my visor; I probably should have warned the Batarians, I bet they'll be seeing stars for weeks.

I guess that wh-Ouch! Give me, a minute, get my air back. Well that was fun... The blast looks to have moved my cover back a handsbreadth, and it's tilted now. I think the impact broke a rib, but at least I'm not glowing. Never been this close when I fired the thing before.

I pull my helmet off so I can get more air when I breath. That shockwave spreads fast. Next time, I'll be sure I'm farther back when I use that damn gun next time. For now I just want to take a few minutes and breathe through the pain.

I wonder if this is how Elena felt when... No. I'm not gonna die right now. Not now I understand what bothered Thira so much about this job. She and Elena were right, and I'm not gonna die until I've made a change.

So I just lie there and breath. It hurts, but it's gonna be a few minutes before I can muster myself to get away from the blast area. There are a lot of embers drifting down, probably bits of the Harvester that didn't get vaporized. I hope that none of them drift onto me, 'cause they're probably hot enough to melt flesh.

After a few minutes, I hear footsteps coming toward me. No telling if that's a Husk or something, so I guess my rest is over. I roll painfully onto my less injured side, and shift clumsily to my knees. I needn't have worried, though: The Batarians have come back to make sure I'm all right. I never thought I'd be this glad to see their four-eyed faces.

Su'daa, Va'kesh's sister, is in the lead. "Damn," she says. "Glad you're on our side this time. You're quite a fighter, Shrike. I'd take you into my bed, if you weren't so damn ugly."

I can't help but laugh at that, and assure her that it's the best offer I've had in a year, and that I'd take her up on it - if I weren't so ugly. I really wouldn't, too much bad blood, but the diplomatic points won't hurt matters either. Va'kesh isn't glaring at me or anything, so I guess I'm all right. In any case, Su'daa appreciates the response, because she smiles and helps me back to the transport we're using to get to base.

I get to work with some medi-gel, hoping that'll at least make it easier to breath. One of the refugees is starting to act all freakish, like some sort of delayed panic attack. The cynic in me figures that he's been indoctrinated, but the new-found spark of hope in me wants to believe that he's in shock from his ordeal. It isn't like most of the others are in good shape, it's just that this one guy seems to be getting worse before my eyes.

Is he whimpering? I tell him it's all right, that he's safe now. He just shakes his head and starts rocking back and forth. Hell of a thanks when I broke a couple of ribs to get him away from those things.

About half an hour along, the medi-gel starts to kick in - at least, in terms of how much pain I'm feeling. Bones don't heal that fast, so I'll have to be careful for a while and make sure that I don't tear anything after the bones are set. I wish I was carrying a sidearm, 'cause I'm not gonna be using my long-rifle for a while.

I look around: Take advantage of the quiet to think about things. I wonder where Thira is right now... Whether she's made it through Justicar school, or whatever they call it.

No matter what it would cost me, I wish she was here right now.

What the hell? That whimpering guy has grabbed one of the children and bolted! I grab my Revenant and climb over the railing after him. Well, fall is more like it, but speed is speed. Takes me a moment to get back up and start after him, but he's being slowed down by a struggling kid. I yell at him to stop, but he isn't listening. Damn it, he's heading back toward the area the Reapers control. And I can't take a shot, because I'd probably hit the kid as well. I hear the transport idling behind me. The driver's probably trying to decide whether to help me or save who they can.

Now I know there's a God out there, 'cause the kid just broke free. She's running back to the vehicle and safety. Good girl! I run forward just a little more, and then I stumble to a halt. There's a Reaper strolling toward... Damn that thing's big!

That idiot has stopped running, too. He's jumping up and down, waving his arms. If that Reaper hasn't noticed us yet, I can't let him clue it in. I drop to one knee and sight in carefully. I gently squeeze off the shot, and he goes down.

Pain. Burning ice in my lungs. I feel like I've been stabbed. The recoil probably shifted a broken rib so it punctured my lung. And the slowness of that realization tells me I probably blacked out. I feel dirt against my face, and that little girl is tugging on my arm. That hurts as much as trying to breath does.

I hear Va'kesh calling, though I can't make out the words. I look back and see the whole group has come to back me up. Even the prisoners we rescued have grabbed the spare munitions and are shooting to the best of their abilities. I look back toward the Reaper, hoping it's moved on. It's almost on top of us. And Husks are swarming in to collect us all. So this is it, then...

I struggle to my knees. It hurts like anything, but there's no point to caring any longer. I brace the Revenant against my belly and start unloading it into the Husks. As I run out, the kid hands me a new thermal clip. That makes reloading a lot quicker. As soon as I'm done, I wave her back toward the others. Maybe somebody will realize that they should get away while they can. I shout over my shoulder for the others to get out, but I don't really think it'll make any difference.

The Husks are packed so tight that I don't really have to aim, just make sure that my shots don't climb too high. I wish I had a grenade left, 'cause I don't like the idea of being captured - I know what these things are doing to prisoners. As soon as there's a lull between waves, I reach into my pack. I pull out the death shroud that Thira made for me. She left before she explained its significance, but it's been a comfort to me all this time. It's really all I have of her now. I almost close my eyes, but there's no time to remember now.

Va'kesh has advance to my side. Guess he feels I shouldn't have to make my stand alone. I can feel the blood seeping into my mouth and nostrils. I don't think we could disengage the Husks in time, even without the Reaper. It's funny: All the things I did in the Rebellions and after, and the people who're standing at my side are mostly Batarians... This is a better death than I deserve, I guess...

A bright light in the sky. People always talk about a bright light. I guess this is it. No, Va'kesh can see it too. He's stopped shooting and is looking up at it. It's getting bigger. Fast.

It's starting to look like some kind of an energy field. It's spreading everywhere I can see. As it hits the Reaper, the thing stumbles and starts to fall over. Va'kesh grabs me under the arm and starts dragging me. I can't tell where the Reaper is going to land, but there's no way in hell we can dodge something that big if we're under it.

Either way, there's one thing I do know: Someone's figured out how to beat these things. The war's effectively over. I look around at the Husks that're disintegrating, at the Reaper that's collapsing practically on top of us. At all the people who died so that some of us could get this far. And I can't help thinking:

I've seen worse. Hell, I've done worse.


End file.
